U.S. health officials said that with the increase in testing procedures for the virus causing AIDS, the delay in the time between the infection and diagnosis is reduced.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented a report, which mentioned that 50% of the 39,270 people, detected with HIV in 2015, were found to be infected for at least three years. This showed an improvement of seven month when compared with the data of 2011.
It was also reported that 25% of the people, found to have HIV in 2015, had infection for seven years or more before the diagnosis.
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Director CDC said that though the country is making an improvement in the fight against HIV, the progress is uneven, and challenges are still there.
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Fitzgerald told, “Too many people have HIV infections that go undiagnosed for far too long.”
The reduction in the time of HIV infection and its diagnosis is considered as a key to prevention. The CDC reported that 40% of the cases of new HIV infection were those, who were not aware of their infection.
The report mentioned that the rate of testing had increased, 15 percent of the estimated people living in 2015 were not aware of their infection.
Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention said, “The report tells us some groups, particularly heterosexual men and racial and ethnic minorities, live with HIV longer than other groups before they are diagnosed.”
Source: foxnews.com